What is the definition of ichthyosaur?

What is the meaning of the name ichthyosaur?

Definition of ichthyosaur : any of an order (Ichthyosauria) of extinct marine reptiles of the Mesozoic specialized for aquatic life by a streamlined body with a long snout, limbs reduced to small fins for steering, and a large lunate caudal fin Other Words from ichthyosaur Example Sentences Learn More About ichthyosaur Other Words from ichthyosaur

What are the 10 types of Ichthyosauria?

1 Order ICHTHYOSAURIA 2 Family Mixosauridae 3 Suborder Merriamosauriformes 4 Guanlingsaurus 5 (unranked) Merriamosauria 6 Family Shastasauridae 7 Infraorder Euichthyosauria (“true ichthyosaurs”) 8 Family Teretocnemidae 9 Californosaurus 10 (Unranked) Parvipelvia (“small pelves”) More items…

What type of animal is an Ichthyosaurus?

The Ichthyosaurus is a fish lizard-like marine reptile in the genus of ichthyosaurs from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of Europe. In which geological period did the Ichthyosaurus live?

Did ichthyosaurs have blubber?

Now, a new study has shown for the first time that ichthyosaurs – ancient marine reptiles that lived 150 million years ago – also had blubber. Scientists from the Natural History Museum in Oslo have studied the remains of an ichthyosaur discovered in the Solnhofen area in Southern Germany.

Are ichthyosaurs’megapredators’?

Unauthorized use is prohibited. Dolphin-like reptiles called ichthyosaurs were thought to pick off small, squishy prey. But a new fossil suggests they may have been early ”megapredators.” About 240 million years ago, a massive marine reptile swallowed another, slightly less massive reptile and died shortly thereafter.

Is Ichthyosaurus a bluefin tuna?

You might be forgiven for mistaking Ichthyosaurus for the Jurassic equivalent of a bluefin tuna: this marine reptile had an amazingly fishlike shape with a streamlined body, a finlike structure on its back, and a hydrodynamic, two-pronged tail.

Is Ichthyosaurus a reptile?

Ichthyosaurus has lent its name to an important family of marine reptiles, the ichthyosaurs, which descended from an as-yet-unidentified group of terrestrial reptiles that ventured into the water during the late Triassic period, about 200 million years ago.

What caused the ichthyosaurs to disappear?

The last ichthyosaurs disappeared in the Cretaceous — several million years before the last dinosaurs died out. Whatever caused the extinction of the dinosaurs did not cause the ichthyosaurs to die out.

What is the difference between a dinosaur and an ichthyosaur?

While dinosaurs ruled the land, the ichthyosaurs, classified variously in the Ichthyosauria or in the Ichthyopterygia, shared the seas of the world with the other great groups of large marine reptiles, the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. “Ichthyosaur” means “fish lizard,” while “Ichthyopterygia” means “fish paddle.”

Are ichthyosaurs and euryapsids the same?

Ichthyosaurs were, at times, considered to have arisen independently of the other euryapsids, and given the older name Parapsida. Parapsida was later discarded as a group for the most part (ichthyosaurs being classified as incertae sedis or with Euryapsida).

When did the Ichthyosaurus live?

About Ichthyosaurus Ichthyosaurus is a marine reptile which lived approximately 200 million to 190 million years ago during the Early Jurassic Period. It was first discovered during the early 19th century and was named by Henry De la Beche and William Conybeare in 1821.

What is Ophthalmosaurus?

Ophthalmosaurus is an extinct marine reptile which lived approximately 165 million to 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. It was first discovered during the 19th century and was named in 1874 by Harry Seeley.

Was Chaohusaurus the first viviparous ichthyosaur?

As Chaohusaurus is a very basal ichthypterygian—previously, the most basal genus of which fetuses were known, had been Mixosaurus —this discovery suggests that the earliest land-dwelling ancestors of ichthyosaurs had already been viviparous.

Was the ichthyosaur warm blooded?

Fossil blubber shows ichthyosaurs were warm blooded reptiles. The discovery of blubber in an ichthyosaur fossil suggests these ancient marine reptiles were probably warm blooded, as has long been suspected. Icthyosaurs have a striking resemblance to modern dolphins.

Why did the ichthyosaur have a dark back?

The team found that, like many marine animals today, the ichthyosaur’s back was darker in color than its belly. This form of coloration, called countershading, would have helped the animal disguise itself in the water and regulate its body temperature. Researchers also saw hints of blubber within the preserved skin.

Are there ichthyosaur fossils with soft tissue?

For more than a century, people have found ichthyosaur fossils with traces of soft tissue, a consequence of the animals’ deep-sea burials in low-oxygen sediments. The best-known of these fossils come from the shale quarries of Holzmaden, Germany. Many of the quarry’s ichthyosaurs bear blackish outlines, which trace the animals’ skin and fins.

How do scientists analyse ichthyosaurs?

To analyse the ichthyosaurs, the researchers took samples of the soft tissue and looked at it via X-ray crystallography and a scanning electron microscope, while UV light was used to study the shape of the bones.

Why is the ichthyosaur’s back darker than its belly?

The team found that, like many marine animals today, the ichthyosaur’s back was darker in color than its belly. This form of coloration, called countershading, would have helped the animal disguise itself in the water and regulate its body temperature. Researchers also saw hints of blubber within the preserved skin.

What did the ichthyosaur look like under a microscope?

When the team looked at the skin of the fossil ichthyosaur under a microscope, they saw what appear to be the remnants of individual pigment cells. They are virtually identical to the pigment cells of modern reptiles, which have a distinctive branched structure.

Do ichthyosaurs have blubber?

Many of the quarry’s ichthyosaurs bear blackish outlines, which trace the animals’ skin and fins. Since the 1930s, researchers studying these outlines have suspected that ichthyosaurs had blubber, Motani says.

Where did ichthyosaurs live?

Ichthyosaurs were not primarily coastal animals; they also inhabited the open ocean, making identification of a certain area as their place of origin impossible. Ichthyosaurs were carnivorous; they ranged so widely in size, and survived for so long, that they are likely to have had a wide range of prey.